You will be investigating cytokine signaling pathways in macrophages, beyond the known JAK-STAT signaling pathways. Cytokines shape the macrophage’s phenotype, thereby affecting disease states. Puzzlingly, many cytokines with opposing functions, utilize highly similar JAK-STAT signaling cascades, leaving it unclear how cytokine-specific responses can occur.

The goal is to reveal novel, cytokine-specific factors regulating macrophage cytokine responses.

Your main tasks and responsibilities within this project are:

• Identify transcription factors that regulate macrophage cytokine responses using a natural genetic variation screen;
• Validate and functionally test the identified transcription factors by knockdown/knockout strategies on the cytokine responses of macrophages;
• Next to cell culture experiments, you will use and analyze state-of-the-art approaches such as RNA-sequencing and ChIP-sequencing analysis;
• Translate your findings to disease models;
• Align these findings with human disease.

• You have a master's degree in a field related to biomedical sciences, (medical) biology, biochemistry or bioinformatics;
• You have experience in molecular biology, immunology and transcriptional regulation;
• You are willing to learn how to perform transcriptomic and genomic data analysis and bioinformatics;
• You have excellent communication skills in English, both written and oral;
• You are an enthusiastic team player with positive social skills;
• Experience with bioinformatics (e.g. in R) is preferred.

• A flying start to your career in scientific research.
• Plenty of room for personal development with a wide range of training & development of academic skills
• Working on large-scale and own research, with motivated colleagues
• A contract for one year with the prospect of extension for the duration of the whole four-year project.
• Salary scale OIO: between € 3.017 and € 3.824 gross per month based on a fulltime work week (depending on qualifications and experience).
• Additional benefits including an 8.3% end-of-year bonus and 8% holiday pay. Calculate your net salary here.
• Your pension is accrued at BeFrank. A modern, understandeble en fair pension
• Excellent accessibility with public transportation and reimbursement of a large portion of your travel expenses. Additionally, we have plenty of parking spaces at the AMC location and a good bicycle scheme.

Amsterdam UMC

You will work in the team of Dr. Hoeksema at the department of Medical Biochemistry (see group's website) in the Amsterdam UMC, location AMC. You will work in a team with young and enthusiastic researches (PhD-students, postdocs and technicians) with excellent infrastructure who have expertise in immunology, cell biology, molecular biology, epigenetics, gene regulation and cardiovascular disease.

You will be part of the Amsterdam institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases and the Amsterdam UMC Doctoral School with the opportunity to follow several (immunology-related) courses.

This project is supported by an ERC Starting grant.